As some of you surely know, Costco is $COST (+0.95%) is one of my "favorite stocks" in my portfolio. I wrote a detailed analysis of the company in 2022 [1]. After having invested in both Chipotle $CMG (+4.41%) [2] and Dino Polska $DNP (+2.25%) [3] this year to get a personal impression of the companies as a shareholder, the time had come last week: I had the opportunity to visit a Costco Wholesale store.
On 01.07.2025 Costco opened $COST (+0.95%) opened a new department store in Malmö, Sweden. It is the second Costco in Sweden. The other department store is located in the Swedish capital Stockholm. As I was in Copenhagen on vacation, I couldn't miss the opportunity to see the "fascination of Costco" myself.
However, as Costco requires a membership card, I wasn't sure if we could even get in without being a member. A friendly Swedish employee was waiting at the entrance and asked me to scan my membership card. After I explained to him that we were just visiting and were tourists from Germany, he offered us the chance to go into the store and look around at our leisure. However, we couldn't buy anything that way as you also need the membership card at the till. Nevertheless, we didn't miss the opportunity to go through the store and have a look around.
In the entrance area, 75-inch televisions and various other electronic appliances such as deep fryers, fridges and coffee machines awaited us. Immediately after that came the clothing area where you could find the now almost legendary Kirkland clothing can be purchased.
In the fresh food section, there were bulk packs of vegetables, meat and various baked goods. I particularly remember a 3.2kg pack of fresh minced meat. This was followed by various large packs of pasta, cornflakes and protein powder. I was particularly surprised by the optician integrated into the store, where you could have a new pair of glasses made.
Overall, the store was pretty full and the shopping baskets were all full. I can now easily understand how you go into Costco for "a few little things" and then come out with a new coffee machine, some new sweatpants and a year's supply of cornflakes.
Last but not least, after the checkout area is the legendary food court where you can get the even more legendary 1.50$ hot dog hot dog. In Sweden, however, the 1.50$ hotdog was a 20SEK hotdog, which is the equivalent of 2.11$.
By the way, the cheapest annual membership at the Swedish Costco costs 500SEK, which is about 45€. Fittingly, I also received my dividend from Costco on the day of my visit to Costco. What more could you want?
Stay Tuned,
Yours Nico Uhlig aka RealMichaelScott
[1] Getquin: https://getqu.in/Ajc51E/
[2] Getquin: https://getqu.in/ISrpRI/
[3] Getquin: https://getqu.in/m2UQOi/
